The present invention relates generally to improvements in fluid pumps and it relates more particularly to an improved tubing or peristaltic type of pump.
The conventional positive displacement pump or metering device such as the piston pump, gear pump or the like, possess numerous drawbacks and disadvantages when employed on many procedures and with many types of fluids. It is difficult and often impossible to isolate the fluid medium from the pump ambient environment and from contamination and problems are encountered when the pumped fluid is a slurry, sterile, or of a highly corrosive or abrasive nature. The above drawbacks are overcome by the use of a tubing or peristaltic type of pump which generally includes a compressible tube to which advancing constrictions are imparted by a rotating rotor having thrust rollers which successively engage the tube and compress it against a backing stator surface. While the peristaltic pump is highly superior in many applications it is characterized by the requirement that the compressible tube be frequently replaced due to its failure by fatigue and abrasion and by changes in application. The replacement of the peristaltic tube in the pumps heretofore available and proposed is a difficult and time-consuming procedure and these pumps otherwise leave much to be desired.